Truck bed cover

ABSTRACT

The invention is a truck bed cover made from thermoplastic material. The top of the truck bed cover has a relatively smooth appearance. The underside of the bed cover comprises a support structure utilizing at least one “X”-type support. In the preferred embodiment, four “X”-type supports are utilized. A typical bed cover typically weighs less than 75 pounds for greater ease of handling, without loss of structural support strength over fiberglass covers from loads placed on the top of the bed cover.

This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application No.60/063,804, filed Oct. 31, 1997.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to covers for truck beds and, more particularly,to hard covers for track beds.

2. Related Art

Pickup trucks such as the Ford F-150 truck, and the like have a cabinportion for seating passengers and a bed portion for hauling cargo. Thebed portion of a pickup truck is open to the outside environment.Accordingly, any cargo in the bed portion of such a truck is subject tothe elements, and is exposed to rain, snow, wind, and sunlight. Becausecertain cargos should not be subjected to the elements, and because sometruck owners prefer to avoid having the bed portion exposed to theelements, the bed portions are covered by bed covers.

Bed covers may typically fall within one of two classes: soft bed coversand hard bed covers. Soft bed covers are made from a fabric material andare snapped to mating snaps placed around the top edge of the truck bed.Structural support for soft covers are generally provided by arched ribsplaced normal to the sides of the truck. The arched ribs assist inpreventing the soft cover from cupping and resultant water retention.

The arched ribs do not provide adequate support for any load other thanthe soft cover. For example, a person could not stand on the soft coverwithout damaging the cover and the underlying ribs. In addition, animpression of the arched ribs is visible under the soft cover such thata smooth outer appearance is not presented.

Hard covers refer essentially to fiberglass-type covers. These coverscan provide adequate support for other loads. A person can stand on afiberglass cover without damaging the cover. In addition, unlike thesituation for soft covers, no supporting structure is visible throughthe top of the cover. The fiberglass cover may be curved, as the softcover, to prevent water from accumulating thereon.

The manufacturing process to produce a single fiberglass cover is anextensive one. First, the mold is cleaned. After several uses, the moldis both cleaned and polished. Then, a release agent is applied to themold. Next, a resin called GELCOAT is sprayed over the release agent.This resin need to be cured. After the resin has tacked, a blown,chopped glass-resin mixture is blown with a chopper gun over the GELCOATresin to achieve a layer of approximately 0.09 to 0.13 inches. Then, thechopped glass-resin mixture is rolled down in a process referred to inthe art as “wetting it” to eliminate air bubbles. At this time, anydesired structural supports are inserted like foamboard or specialcardboard or plywood. Then, another coat of chopped glass-resin mixtureis sprayed. This must be then permitted to set with a setting time ofapproximately 15 minutes. While the mixture is still elastic, the coveris then hand trimmed. After trimming, the cover must be permitted to setfor another half hour to an hour. Accordingly, the entire process formaking one cover may take from 45 minutes to 90 minutes, depending onthe size of the cover and the features ordered for the cover. After thecover is produced, the mold is cleaned (and sometimes polished) and theprocess is repeated.

A fiberglass cover may typically weigh between 100 and 200 pounds. Thisweight may make lifting the cover more difficult. While the top of thecover has a smooth, pleasing appearance, the underside of the cover doesnot have a finished appearance. The retail price of a fiberglass coveris approximately $700 which is approximately three hundred percent morethan the retail cost of a soft cover. Because of the manufacturingprocess, many different materials must be used which increasesmanufacturing costs and environmental objections. In addition, themanufacturing process is very time consuming because of the curing timesinvolved.

Thermoplastic truck bed covers have been utilized in lieu of fiberglasscover. However, these single-walled bed covers do not have structuralsupport adequate to sustain appreciable loads placed on the top of thecover, such as the load presented by a person standing on the bed cover.

There is a need in the art to provide a cover that can provide adequatesupport without displaying an outline of the structural support throughthe top of the cover.

There is a need in the art to provide a truck bed cover utilizing amaterial other than fiberglass to avoid environmental objections.

There is a need in the art to provide a truck bed cover manufacturedusing a process that is more efficient than the process of manufacturingfiberglass truck covers.

There is a need in the art to provide a stiff truck bed cover that islighter than a fiberglass truck bed cover to make lifting the covereasier.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is in the view of the above problems that the present invention wasdeveloped. The invention is a truck bed cover made from thermoplasticmaterial. The top of the truck bed cover has a relatively smoothappearance. The underside of the bed cover comprises a support structureutilizing “X”-type supports made from a plastic material and unitarilyformed, without the use of a separate fastener. In a preferredembodiment, four “X”-type supports are utilized. A typical bed covertypically weighs less than 75 pounds excluding hardware for greater caseof handling, without loss of structural support strength from loadsplaced on the top of the bed cover over fiberglass covers that typicallyweigh between 100 and 200 pounds.

The truck bed cover is of double-wall construction, with the top of thecover having a relatively smooth appearance, and the underside of thecover presenting a smooth surface of structural supports. Both the topand the underside of the cover may be made from the same material.

The manufacturing process of the bed cover of the present invention issimplified such that the total time to manufacture the cover is on theorder of magnitude of twenty minutes. The manufacturing process utilizesfewer materials, and creates waste that can be recycled. Accordingly,the manufacturing process is less costly and more environmentally benignover the manufacturing process for fiberglass bed covers.

Further features and advantages of the present invention, as well as thestructure and operation of various embodiments of the present invention,are described below in detail with reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part ofthe specification, illustrate the embodiments of the present inventionand together with the description, serve to explain the principles ofthe invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the top of a truck bed cover ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a right plan view of the truck bed cover;

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of the bottom of the truck bedcover of the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a section view taken along section line 4—4 of FIG. 3of the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a bottom plan view of a schematic of the firstembodiment arrangement of structural support members shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic of a third alternative arrangement ofstructural support members of the bottom of truck bed cover;

FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic of a fourth alternative arrangement ofstructural support members of the bottom of truck bed cover;

FIG. 8 illustrates a schematic of a fifth alternative arrangement ofstructural support members of the bottom of truck bed cover;

FIG. 9 illustrates a schematic of a sixth alternative arrangement ofstructural support members of the bottom of truck bed cover; and

FIG. 10 illustrates a schematic of a seventh alternative arrangement ofstructural support members of the bottom of truck bed cover.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the accompanying drawings in which like reference numbersindicate like elements, FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show various aspects of a truckbed cover, shown generally at 10. Truck bed cover 10 has a top sideshown generally at 12, a front side shown generally at 14, a right sideshown generally at 16, a rear side (not fully) shown at 18, a left sideshown generally at 20, and a bottom side shown generally at 22. As seenin the profile of top side in FIG. 2, top side 12 is rounded from frontside 14 to rear side 18. As is also evident from the ability to view topside 12 above right side 16, top side 12 is rounded from right side 16to left side 20. This is further demonstrated by the centerline of topside 12 in FIG. 1. This rounding prevents accumulation of moisture oncover 10 in the form of rain, snow, or ice.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4—4 of FIG. 3. As ismore clearly seen in FIG. 4, truck bed cover 10 comprises top covershown generally at 28 and support structure shown generally at 30. Theterm “support structure” 30 is synonymous with the term “support base30”. Top cover 28 and support structure 30 may be made from a plasticmaterial, preferably a thermoplastic material, and most preferably fromABS plastic. It is preferred that top cover 28 be made from virgin ABSplastic and that support structure 30 be made from reground,utility-grade ABS plastic.

Support structure 30 has a plurality of recessed areas 32. Supportstructure 30 is joined to top cover 28 at a plurality of recessed areas32 that are best illustrated in FIG. 3. Joinder of support structure 30with top cover 28 may be accomplished by joining technologies such asadhesive bonding, solvent bonding, thermal welding, ultrasonic welding,urethane foam adhesive, or any other type of joining technology forjoining thermoplastics together, or any combination of the joiningtechnologies.

As seen in FIG. 3, support structure 30 includes a plurality ofintegrally formed support members shown generally at 34 which formfirst, second, third, and fourth x-shaped support elements, at 36, 38,40, and 42, respectively, each being disposed in a quadrant of supportstructure 30. Quadrants are preferred in order to keep the unsupportedarea on top side 12 to a minimum. Thus, a plurality of x-shaped supportelements 36, 38, 40, and 42 respectively are connected, and unitarilyformed with said support structure 30. In the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 3, each of the plurality of recessed areas 32 spans a generallytriangular area.

It should be noted that a fifth x-shaped support element 43 extendsdiagonally from corner to corner between the four corners located on theperimeter of support structure 30. The diagonal elements of supportelement 43 intersect at hub 24. At minimum, this single x-shaped supportelement 43 is needed (as shown in FIG. 6). Support element 43 isunitarily formed (i.e., without requiring the use of a separatemechanical fastening means such as a screw, rivet, adhesive, orencapsulation) with and from the same material as support structure 30.

Additional support elements include three horizontal elements 66, 68 and70 and three longitudinal elements 72, 74, and 76.

The x-shaped support elements 36, 38, 40 and 42, respectively, will nowbe examined in further detail in the following example. First supportmember 44 has a first longitudinal axis 46. Second support member 48 hasa second longitudinal axis 50. First longitudinal axis 46 intersectswith second longitudinal axis 50 at an angle α measured clockwise fromfirst longitudinal axis 46. Angle α may measure from approximatelythirty to one hundred fifty degrees, preferably sixty to one hundredtwenty degrees. Most preferably, angle α is ninety degrees.

The support elements 36, 38, 40 and 42 respectively provide a remarkableamount of strength to top side 12 from vertical loading.

A key feature of any x-shaped support element is that it extendsdiagonally within a defined quadrangle area. While corner-to-cornercoverage is preferred, it is also possible that an x-shaped supportelement will simply extend from side-to-side without necessarilyreaching the furthest point on of any side, namely the corners.

Top side 12 may also be provided with a recess 56 for a handle 58 asshown in FIG. 1. Bottom side 22 may be provided with guides 60 forretaining bar 62 which is connected to handle 58.

In manufacturing top cover 28 and support structure 30, each piece isformed. Preferably top cover 28 is made from virgin ABS while supportstructure 30 is made from reground utility-grade AUS, although anythermoplastic may be used for top cover 28 and support structure 30.Then top cover 28 and support structure 30 is joined or bonded to theother around the perimeter. It should be noted that if urethane foamadhesive is used, additional structural integrity may result. Afterjoinder, bed cover 10 is trimmed with a trim saw, router, or othertrimming tool. Then, edging, gaskets, and ABS backplates 64 may be fixedto bottom side 22. Alternatively, a ridge may be formed along the edgeof cover 10 that has the appearance of edge trim, but functions toeliminate the need for providing edge trim separately thereby furtherreducing cost.

The entire manufacturing process may be performed in less than 20minutes, with cover 10 being of a stiff material, double wallconstruction, single piece (one without sections hinged together) coverhaving a weight of less than 75 pounds. The term “stiff” refers to anon-fabric material such as ABS plastic. The double wall construction isimportant because it provides enhanced structural strength and rigidityby permitting the use of support structure 30.

Thus, a truck bed cover 10 is described and shown having an upper walljoined to a lower wall, wherein the lower wall structurally supports theupper wall, and wherein the upper wall and lower wall are both made froma thermoplastic material.

FIG. 5 illustrates the arrangement of structural members of the firstembodiment discussed above in a schematic form.

FIGS. 6-10 illustrate schematics of alternative arrangements ofstructural support members of support structure 30. Thus, FIGS. 6-10represent alternate embodiments of structural support 32 with respect toplacement of structural support members, but hold in common all otheraspects of the first embodiment such as the methods for manufacturing,the materials, the unitary formation, the recessed areas and the joinderwith top cover 28. It should be noted that in each of the alternativeembodiments, structural support members are placed about the perimeterof support structure 30.

FIG. 6 illustrates an x-shaped support element 43 that extendsdiagonally from corner to corner between the four corners located on theperimeter of support structure 30. The diagonal elements of supportelement 43 intersect at hub 24. The perimeter comprises further supportelements.

FIG. 7 illustrates an x-shaped support element 80 in conjunction with acenter horizontal support element 82, intersecting at hub 24. Theperimeter comprises further support elements.

FIG. 8 illustrates the use of two x-shaped support elements 90, 92separated by horizontal support element 94. The perimeter comprisesfurther support elements.

FIG. 9 illustrates two x-shaped support elements 100, 102 with centerhorizontal support element 104, and center longitudinal support element106. The perimeter comprises further support elements.

FIG. 10 illustrates two x-shaped support elements 110, 112 with threehorizontal support elements, 114, 116, and 118. The perimeter comprisesfurther support elements.

In view of the foregoing, it will be seen that the several objects ofthe invention are achieved and other advantages are attained. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and its practical application to therebyenable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention invarious embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated. As various modifications could be made inthe constructions and methods herein described and illustrated withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention, it is intended that allmatter contained in the foregoing description or shown in theaccompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative rather thanlimiting.

Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not belimited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but shouldbe defined only in accordance with the following claims appended heretoand their equivalents.

1. A truck bed cover comprising: a one-piece, top truck bed cover havingan upper surface bounded by a front edge, a rear edge, a left edge, anda right edge, said upper surface having a curved portion between saidfront edge and said rear edge, said upper surface having a curvedportion between said left edge and said right edge; a support structurefixed to said top truck bed cover, said support structure having aplurality of ribless recessed substantially triangular areas supportingsaid top truck bed cover, and a support element forming an x-shape.
 2. Atruck bed cover according to claim 1, wherein said support element isintegrally formed with said support structure.
 3. A truck bed coveraccording to claim 1, wherein said support structure further comprises aplurality of x-shaped support elements.
 4. A truck bed cover accordingto claim 3, wherein said plurality of x-shaped support elementscomprises four.
 5. A truck bed cover according to claim 4, wherein eachof said four x-shaped support elements is disposed in a quadrant of saidsupport structure.
 6. A truck bed cover comprising: a one-piece, toptruck bed cover having an upper surface bounded by a front edge, a rearedge, a left edge, and a right edge, said upper surface having a curvedportion between said front edge and said rear edge, said upper surfacehaving a curved portion between said left edge and said right edge; asupport structure permanently joined to said top truck bed cover toproduce a double-walled bed cover, said support structure having aplurality of ribless recessed areas supporting said top truck bed cover,said support structure further having a first linear non-recessedsupport rib and a second linear non-recessed support rib, wherein saidfirst non-recessed linear support rib intersects said secondnon-recessed linear support rib.